- House Democrats want to vote on another coronavirus rescue bill as soon as it's ready, which could be as early as this week.
- Without more funding for states, police officers, teachers, and firefighters will face layoffs, Democrats have said.
- Republicans say it's too soon to think about the next relief bill but have shown interest in liability protections for employers.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
House Democrats want to pass another coronavirus rescue package as early as this week, with or without support from Republican lawmakers and the White House.
The decision to move ahead with a bill would clash with the route lawmakers took in crafting the last packages, when they reached bipartisan agreement. While House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on a call Wednesday that he hoped the next package would be similarly bipartisan, Senate Republicans told Business Insider it was too soon to pass another relief bill.
Senate Republicans said they thought more time should pass to see where the holes in funding were from the other relief packages. President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion coronavirus aid bill less than three weeks ago. The $2 trillion relief bill, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, became law in late March.
When he was asked on May 6 about the possibility of a House vote this week, Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said it was "very premature."
"I think we need to stop and think about the money we've spent to make sure it's spent effectively," he said, adding that billions of dollars for healthcare providers hasn't yet been spent.
Instead of a funding package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to see a bill passed to shield employers from federal lawsuits if their customers or workers become sick from the coronavirus — an idea that Democratic leaders oppose.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she wasn't negotiating with the White House but that the bill was "consistent with the needs of the American people." She emailed members over the weekend to encourage them to "think big" in crafting the legislation.
Lawmakers refer to the next relief package as "CARES 2." Pelosi has been calling it the "Heroes Bill."
Democrats have multiple other ideas for the legislation, including expanding health insurance coverage, improving broadband access, and doling out more money to healthcare providers.
The bill is still being written, and more details will become more clear in the coming days, but here are the key provisions Business Insider has confirmed Democrats want in it.
$500 billion for states and local governments
Democrats wanted to boost funding for states as part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act that Trump signed into law on April 24, but Republicans wouldn't agree to more funding at the time. States received $150 billion in the CARES Act that Trump signed into law on March 27, and Republicans said they wanted to see how well that worked before allocating more.
"I think we need to know how the money has been spent before we do anymore," said GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee..
Democrats say that providing the money is a key priority as part of the next rescue package. Hoyer said the caucus thinks the $500 billion states are requesting is a "reasonable" figure.
"An awful lot of money, but essential if we are going to preclude layoffs of police, firefighters, nurses, teachers, and critical personnel for the safety of our people," Hoyer said.
On the call he said money for cities "may be included as well" but didn't provide a figure. He said Democrats would like to fix how much money was allocated to Washington, DC. Under the CARES Act, the capital was treated as a US territory rather than a state, meaning it received about $700,000. In contrast, states on average received about $1.2 billion each, Hoyer said.
$25 billion to aid the Postal Service
Democrats want to rescue the Post Office with $25 billion in funding. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, who chairs the committee that oversees the Postal Service, said that without the funding, the agency wouldn't be able to survive beyond a few months.
"It is an essential service that we need to maintain," Hoyer said, adding that the caucus had reached consensus on funding for the post office. "So we want to see that included," he said.
Letting more people vote by mail
Democrats want to set up a fund for voting by mail in the November elections so that states could either move to only mail voting or make it easier for people to vote through absentee ballots. Democrats have said this setup would help keep people safe if the US is still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic at that time.
The CARES Act included $400 million for states to shore up their elections, a sum Democrats say is inadequate. Democrats haven't yet released a sum, but a bill Pelosi introduced in March contained $4 billion for elections.
Giving a raise to 'essential workers'
Democrats want to boost pay for people who are unable to do their jobs from home during the pandemic, including healthcare workers, grocery store workers, federal employees, and others.
"There is an interest in doing hazard pay for those who are on the front lines," Pelosi said Monday on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes. "It isn't mandatory so much it is an imperative to do so. That's what we are writing down now. I'm excited about that. Chuck Schumer is too. That's sort of his baby."
Pelosi didn't specifically say whether the plan would be the same as the one Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put forward in April, in which he called for front line workers to get as much as a $25,000 raise through the end of 2020. The amount is equivalent to getting an additional $13 an hour for continuing to work during the pandemic.
More money for people and for food stamps could be added
Pelosi announced during her weekly press conference on Thursday that the legislation would put "more money in the pockets of the American people." She didn't say how much money people could expect but cited several ways they could expect to get help, including through direct payments, tax credits, and extending unemployment insurance.
In a letter to members on Sunday, Pelosi said she wants to "put more money in the pockets of the American people."
She said that rent and mortgage help, student loan assistance, and direct payments are "essential," though she didn't provide more information about the amount of any additional aid.
Democrats also want to increase funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income people buy food.
Pelosi also said more money for coronavirus testing would be a "very major" part of CARES 2. The last bill signed into law contained $25 billion for testing.
"That's not enough, but it's what we could get and we need to do much more," Pelosi said. While she declined to share a figure on Thursday, she said the effort to track people down to test them and isolate them when needed would require a large public-health workforce.
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